Royal Mail has started an e-trike scheme, rolling out the partly solar-powered vehicles across areas of London, Birmingham and Cambridge.
Royal Mail say it will help their workers deliver parcels and letter in a more environmentally-friendly way, and the e-trikes, made in Italy, are built for the job with smart pedal and brake technology and a powerful battery that is charged by mains power and aided by solar panels.
Introducing the Royal Mail e-trike..... #postie #myroyalmaillround pic.twitter.com/wte9bD1Zfr
— myroyalmailuk (@myroyalmailuk) March 19, 2019
There are eight e-trikes being deployed as part of the trial in east London, Stratford, Cambridge and Sutton Coldfield, before Royal Mail will decide if they want to grow the scheme across more areas of the UK.
London's Walking and Cycling Commissioner Will Norman said in a tweet: "Great to see the new Royal Mail solar-powered e-trikes being trialled in East London - cleaner, greener, healthier and more efficient freight for London."
*Update* We were intrigued as to who made the trikes for Royal Mail, and they've now got back to us with an answer:
"We sourced the e-trikes from an Italian manufacturer who specialise in environmental solutions. The manufacturer in question had a proven performance within GLS delivery operations, and offered a broader range of features - such as solar charging - more suited to our needs in this particular case, however I'm afraid we aren't able to disclose the manufacturer."
